Who Are We?

Faith Lutheran Church in Quincy is steeped in history.  Many families boast several generations that have attended the church.  They have been part of the city for many years.  They share many stories, and members have known one another for decades.  This history is important as they begin to grapple with the question of Who are we?   The answer to that question begins the synod strategic planning process that will be shared with all congregations over the next three years.  The process includes three steps:  Be who you are.  See what you have.  Do what matters.

The first step is figuring out ‘who you are’ – the past, the present and the future - all rolled into one.  Not an easy question to answer – who are we.  Faith has a past rich with stories and traditions, a present blessed with a growing congregation and a future bursting with potential.  How to combine past traditions with future promise?  How to honor generations of families who’ve worshiped there for years and yet be welcoming to new members?  How to adapt to changing needs in the community, re-examining how Faith has served yesterday, and how it might serve tomorrow?

As a member of one church for the first four decades of my life, the church to which my parents belonged for two decades before that, I understand the comfort and security of a well known, well loved place.  I understand the struggle with which traditions and customs are gently molded to adjust to a new day and time.  I also understand the incredible growth that can occur by building on past strengths and channeling them in new directions.

As a non member of Faith and one familiar with organizational change, I was asked to spend the day with the church council from Faith as they worked on that first step.  Investing in their future, they spent hours wrestling with the question – Who are we?  Putting expectations and opportunity, hopes and fears on the table as they shared with one another how they’d answer the question of Who is Faith?  I’d like to say they answered that first question and are moving on to the second.  But an afternoon is not nearly enough time to define an organization that has been serving family and community for many years.  It is however, enough time to plant the seed, get some important questions asked and start the process of being who you are.

As we journey through the Advent season, what better time to remember to do what matters.  We’re surrounded by the secular celebration of Christmas - perhaps we should recall the following.  “If, as Herod, we fill our lives with things, and again with things, if we consider ourselves so unimportant that we must fill every moment of our lives with action, when will we have time to make the long, slow journey across the desert as did the Magi?  Or sit and watch the stars as did the Shepherds?  Or brood over the coming of the child as did Mary?  For each one of us there is a desert to travel, a star to discover, and a being within ourselves to bring to life.” (attributed to Eric Ericson).

Be who you are – a being within ourselves to bring to life

See what you have – a star to discover

Do what matters – travel the desert toward the Christ child

May your Advent be blessed with the true gift of Christmas to share with others.

Martha Bayliss Whyte

Christ the King, Holliston

"God is up to Something Here at St. James!"



by Andrew Simon, Pastor

St. James Lutheran Church, Barrington, RI

I can remember the exact moment when Doing What Matters “clicked” for me.  It was several weeks ago, while Charlene, Lisa, Jane, and I were on a conference call with Kelly Fryer and Tana Kjos.  Kelly summarized the mission of ARE, saying “We’d like to get people to ask the question: ‘What is God up to?’ every day.”  I was into the process prior to that, but when I heard those words, I was definitely hooked!

At St. James, we’re fond of saying “God is up to something here.”  When I interviewed for the position of pastor, just over a year ago, the chair of the call committee shared that mantra with me and now I get to explore what it means every day.

St. James is a congregation that serves the people of the East Bay of Rhode Island —suburbs like Barrington, East Providence, Warren, and Bristol — and several communities in southeast Massachusetts.  St. James is a church that is growing.  We are growing in our faith, our outreach, and our understanding of what God is “up to” and how we fit into all of that activity. 

As we worship this Advent, we’re remembering our baptism — a time when God was definitely up to something with us!  This past Sunday, our children paraded down the center aisle of our sanctuary, shaking pine branches soaked in water from the font. The smiles on their faces were contagious, and before long everyone was smiling as we were sprinkled with the waters of baptism.  We sang a song about an awesome God who gave his life for us.  One of the lines really spoke to me as we worshipped: “Once again I thank you, once again I pour out my life!” 

God is up to something in New England, pouring out an abundance of gifts and inviting us to be a part of using them to do what matters.  At St. James, we’re just beginning to open up all the gifts of this unique process.  We’re preparing to begin an adult Bible Study based on resources from A Renewal Enterprise.  We’re only just beginning to look at who we are, what we have, and how we will use those things to do what matters.  We’re beginning at the font, in the waters where God claimed us.  Already, we can see that just as God was up to something in our lives at baptism, God is still up to something in our lives today.

Doing What Matters excites us because we believe that God is always up to something.  We’re looking forward to having our eyes opened to notice places we may have overlooked, see things in new ways, and use what God has given us to do what matters!